A former jobcentre advisor has penned her own play to highlight the harsh realities of a life on benefits.

Angela Neville, 48, worked with people receiving health-related benefits at Braintree Jobcentre Plus from 2009 to 2013.

Over that time, she grew increasingly concerned about how customers were treated by the welfare system and how frequently people were having their hand-outs stopped.

Mrs Neville, of Coggeshall Road, Braintree, now works as a full-time writer and her newest play, Can This Be England?, was shaped by her worst experiences at work.

She said: “It didn’t matter whether somebody was there for jobseeker’s allowance or health issues, you still had to hit certain targets - it wasn’t ‘what can we do for this person’, it was ‘what can we do to get them to sign off’.”

See this week's Braintree Times for more.